New Green Lanterns and new heroes came to the forefront in this week's episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Spoilers are ahead!

The Plot:

As the episode opens, Hal and Kilowag are still searching for recruits to join them in their fight against the Red Lanterns. While Iolande proved to be untenable due to her responsibilities to her people, Aya discovers that the ring of the late Lantern Shyir Rev (who was killed during the pilot episode) has landed on a nearby planet. However, Aya also discovers that the planet is about to be struck by an asteroid. While Hal and Kilowag slow the asteroid down with their rings, they use up most of their Green Lantern energy, as well as the bulk of the ship's power, in the process. Yet they manage to buy some time to find the new Green Lantern recruit and save any other inhabitants of the planet, though neither Aya nor Kilowag feel that Hal's disregard for regulations is worth the risk.

Upon landing, Hal and his friends quickly meet up with three castaways trapped on the planet: Zartok, Drusa, and Dru. The castaways team up with the Green Lanterns, but Razer decides to search for the Green Lantern recruit alone. Many problems arise: Hal and Aya learn that the castaways are not who they seem; Hal is nearly killed by Dru; Aya is disabled by Drusa after allowing her access to the ship. Hal is nearly swallowed up by the ground before it recedes after sensing the Green Lantern's power. He learns that Dru was not so lucky.

Razer, meanwhile, is led to a graveyard of ships by the mysterious Saint Walker. Razer recognizes the ships as belonging to various pirates and marauders. He is quickly goaded into attacking Saint Walker, who sees great rage in the Red Lantern's heart.

Kilowag and Zartok discuss soldierly duty and bravery as Zartok recounts his part in the last Stand of Thalius Prime. Kilowag realizes too late that Zartok actually led the Cardonian Hordes that attacked the peaceful Thallonians and finds himself under attack by the Cardonian general. Saint Walker incapacitates Razer quickly and leaves the errant Green Lantern ring on his chest, mentioning that he follows a different path- one of hope. As soon as Saint Walker disappears, Hal is led by the forest to find the disabled Razer and he confirms that the castaways are hostile.

After a fierce fight, Kilowag manages to overpower Zartok, although the Cardonian general is saved by Drusa, who is piloting the Green Lantern's ship. Kilowag is quickly joined by Hal and Razer, and they all give chase to their ship. However, it is the planet itself that takes down the vessel, giving Razer time to subdue the castaways and reactivate Aya (all the while giving viewers another painfully awkward Aya-Razer scene).

As the asteroid inches closer to the planet, Hal realizes that the Green Lantern recruit has been close this entire time. He drills a hole into the planet and tosses the ring down, causing the planet to blow the asteroid out of the sky with a massive surge of Green Lantern energy. The planet is exposed as Mogo- the coolest of all the Green Lanterns- and agrees to join the Green Lantern's war as Saint Walker looks on in amusement.

My Thoughts

Each week, this show gets better and better. Not only does it bring in Mogo into play, it also does an excellent job introducing Saint Walker, who is depicted far better here than he ever was in the comics. Plot-wise, I can't find too many complaints and the only major weakness in the art department was the obviously two-dimensional ship graveyard, which looked painfully out of place in the CGI world.

Ties to the Comics

Mogo – Created by industry legend Alan Moore, Mogo is a living planet whose Green Lantern ring resides at its core. Mogo became more important than ever during Geoff Johns' time on Green Lantern, where he revealed that Mogo helped guide the Green Lantern rings to their future owners after ensuring that the recruits were fearless and of necessary moral caliber. However, Mogo died an ignoble death last year, when Green Lantern John Stewart destroyed him after the Lantern became possessed by Parallax.

Saint Walker- Another recent addition to the Green Lantern comics, Saint Walker is the first of the Blue Lanterns, who operate on the power of hope. After losing his entire family in a disaster on his home planet, Walker took the blue ring and began to spread the power of hope throughout the galaxy. Unlike his animated counterpart, Walker is a lot less witty and clever in the comics and possesses a stoic monk-like personality.

Dangling Plot Points

I'm sure this is only the first of many Saint Walker appearances. Notice that he talked a lot about hope and how his path was different than the Green Lanterns. Can a blue ring be too far behind?

Razer's Red Lantern ring is running low on energy. Fortunately, it looks like next week's episode will bring the Green Lanterns up against some Red Lanterns, so I'm sure that plot point will be resolved rather quickly.

Aya/Razer. Why? Why? Why?

Next Week:

The Red Lanterns are back and more deadly than ever. Will we see a Rage Cat making an appearance? Only time will tell....

Written or Contributed by: Christian Hoffer

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About the Author - Christian

Christian is the exasperated Abbott to the Outhouse's Costello. When he's not yelling at the Newsroom for upsetting readers or complaining to his wife about why the Internet is stupid, he sits in his dingy business office trying to find new ways to make the site earn money. Christian is also the only person in history stupid enough to moderate two comic book forums at once.